Lotteries Commission Claims All Businesses Should Be On Internet

A couple of days ago, CGW reported on how the Lotteries Commission in New Zealand had come under fire for their plan to expand to the Internet. The Commission outlined a plan to sell Instant Kiwi online, and the Problem Gambling Foundation immediately blasted the idea.

Now, the Commission has come back with their response to the allegations that selling tickets online will create increased problem gambling. The Lotteries Commission’s Chief Executive, Todd McLeay, claims that Lotto and other products offered do not contribute to gambling addiction.

It has been proven in other countries that the lottery is the main form of problem gambling cases. In most situations, the amount of regulation is directly proportionate to the number of gambling addiction cases. In jurisdictions where there has been strict oversight, the addiction numbers are lower.

McLeay asserted that no business can survive in today’s world without being connected to the Internet. More and more over the past few years consumers have used the Internet to complete most of their purchases. McLeay believes that this will soon be the case for lotteries all across the world as well.

It is not even yet known whether the Lotteries Commission will receive permission to sell their Instant Kiwi online. As of now, the government has not awarded that permission, and there will be extensive discussions before that expansion takes place.

The Problem Gambling Foundation plans to go on record with their opposition to selling any Lotto or Instant Kiwi games online, or in supermarkets. Part of the Commission’s plan over the next two years was to give customers more places to buy scratch-off tickets, and making it easier to buy these gambling tickets in supermarkets was part of the two year plan.

The Lotteries Commission has issued as a mission statement to raise funds for charity without doing harm to the community. This is the area of their own rules that the Problem Gambling Foundation will use in showing how online sales could contradict the Commission’s goals.